Fast Deployment of Site-Application of the New Rooftop Tower

Etihad Atheeb Telecom (Atheeb for short) is the second largest fixed network operator. To achieve quick access to the mobile communication market, they began to deploy the wireless network since 2008 and planned to cover the 5 big cities quickly, like Dammam, Khobar, etc., to create the Saudi Arabian “air highway”. On 22nd June in 2009, Atheeb signed a formal contract with ZTE, and required to complete the network in a short period.

To achieve rapid deployment and commercial of network, Atheeb required that the first batch of sites be delivered and on air in 3 to 4 months after signing the project contract. But construction is greatly restricted by local environments and time:

• Severe weather: Locating in the Arabian Peninsula, it's hot and dry in summer in Saudi Arabia, and the highest daytime temperature is up to 50℃. The tower concrete foundation construction couldn't be normally carried out under the condition of such high temperature, so workers had to work at night; and August and September coincided with the Muslim Ramadan and Balram, so they could only work for 5 to 6 hours;
• Limited roof operation: To reduce the whole network-building cost, 70% of the sites were rooftop sites. The construction of traditional roof tower has to destruct the roof membranes and insulation, which is generally refused by owners, it makes roof acquisition extremely difficult;
• Limited construction time: The construction and installation of the traditional roof tower is about 17 days. But according to implementation plan of this project, the construction time for towers is less than 10 days.

How to reduce the tower construction cycle, overturn the traditional design concept and satisfy the construction demands on time is the biggest problem of implement in this project.

After investigating and arguments, an innovative tower solution—non-penetrating tower is put forward. This solution has three advantages:

• Short construction cycle
  There is no need of concrete foundation depositing and maintenance at site, shortening about 80% of construction cycle than traditional sites.
• Strong manipulation of site acquisition
  The foundation is steel frame and ballast, not destructing the floor membranes and insulation, which is easily accepted by owners. This shortens the acquisition time and reduces the renting costs;
• Convenient transportation and flexible installation
  According to actual conditions, the ballast can be made in different materials (concrete, sand and stones) or choose equipment cabinet to balance, and they can be reused. The components and pre-casted cement blocks are modular designed, making installation and transportation easy.

The non-penetrating towers effectively solve the problems of short construction implementation cycle and no destructed roof membranes, which effectively guarantee the quick delivery of project.

New Rooftop Tower, Help Atheeb Make Profit Quickly